Input Stories

U.S. manufacturing output expanded slightly this month, while overall U.S. business activity faltered (S&P Global).

What’s going on: Output expansion “slowed to a 16-month low in April, according to flash PMI® survey data, with business expectations about the year ahead also dropping to one of the lowest levels seen since the pandemic. … Manufacturing output meanwhile edged back into growth after slipping into decline in March, though the expansion was only marginal.”

• This Flash PMI reading comes from an early estimate of manufacturing activity based on 85% of survey responses.
• The Flash U.S. PMI Composite Output Index for April came in at 51.2, down from 53.5 in March, while the Flash U.S. Manufacturing PMI was 50.7, a two-month high and up from March’s 50.2.
• Prices charged for goods and services increased sharply this month, especially for manufactured items, due to new tariffs.

Production and orders: Factory production bounced back in April after a short dip the previous month, and new orders grew more robustly than their modest increase in March.

Outlook: Company sentiment about output over the next year dropped in April for the third month in a row, but was “relatively more resilient in manufacturing than services.”

• Still, factory confidence declined to its lowest level since August 2024 “amid concerns over higher costs, supply constraints, weaker economic growth and falling demand from export customers.”